Mill1634

Meh. I think if Niko wasn't a former Twin he would be on zero peoples radars. Am I completely opposed to it? No. But is this a move that moves the needle? Not one bit. He's probably an upgrade over Gordon, so if it's a straight swap I am fine with it.

I personally think Cobb is better than Pineda, don't really think it's close. Both have an injury history and a reason to worry going forward, and neither is an ace, but I would much rather have a healthy Cobb than a healthy Pineda.

Oh yeah, I know you're not taking it as gospel, but just wanted to put that out there for those that don't play the game that it isn't the end all be all like you said. It relies a lot on the settings you have, and the game values some players super weirdly. It's very possible the Twins would have to add on a better prospect than Strotman, but it's hard to come up with hypothetical trades in any sport, especially baseball with every front office valuing certain prospects differently. If the Twins are fans of Pablo Lopez, I have no doubt that they could put a package together to land him.

I used baseball trade values to run this through. As far as OOTP..lol. Depends so much on your settings. Not a good way to judge if trades will go through in reality. of course the twins would potentially have to add more. I think Kepler still has some value, and we know Miami has wanted him before. Jeffers is a wildcard. I think some teams would value him a lot, and some not at all.

Thanks for the feedback Mike. I'm pretty over Kepler has he's had near a thousand at-bats with the same issues and has either refused to adjust, or has adjusted and it hasn't worked. He is a very underrated defender in right field, so there is some value in him even if he's only a league average hitter, but I would much rather have a #2 starter than Kepler. I don't think the Marlins are moving Rogers or Sandy like you said. Sixto Sanchez is maybe a guy they'd trade, as is Eliser Hernandez, but he is more of a MOR starter. I am not a fan of Rodon. Sox didn't give him a QO, which means something, and he has years worth of injury history. Someone is going to pay up for him, but I don't think it'll be the Twins. Stroman would be a very good fit, but I don't see him wanting to play in Minnesota and will likely have many suitors, and I wanted to keep this as realistic as a hypothetical off-season can be. I think the lineup is similar to last yaer, but you have to remember it was still an above average offense last year. Have the 2020 or 2019 pitching staff and they are in the postseason again. You're always going to be betting on health with some of the main contributors, but that's true of any team. If your best players get hurt, you aren't going to have a chance whether you are the Twins, the Dodgers, or the Orioles. I would love to see the Twins add Knebel. I think there is a chance. I am probably higher on Ottavino than most, and the fit makes a ton of sense. He relies on primarily sliders, and we know how the Twins love a good slider. I wouldn't be opposed to Ryan Tepera either, he was actually somebody that I considered. The Twins were in on Yates last year, but then he was out for the entire year once again. I'd either stay away from him if you're only adding two real relievers in free agency (meaning actual money being given out, not waiver claims, R5 picks, or MiLB deals), or add him as a third arm if the money is right.

The first two parts of this series have seen the Twins clear room on the 40 man for an active off-season in hopes of bouncing back to challenge the Chicago White Sox for a division title, and even farther if the Twins were to make it there. In part 2, we signed Eduardo Rodriguez from the Boston Red Sox, former Angel Alex Cobb, and journeymen Michael Wacha to varying sorts of deals. However, I promised that I was not happy with this rotation and that more would be done to finish it out. As promised, that's how we will kick off part 3 to the off-season blueprint. Trade OF Max Kepler, C Ryan Jeffers, and RHP Drew Strotman to Miami for RHP Pablo Lopez We still need another top of the rotation starter for this squad, and that is exactly what we add in Pablo Lopez from the Marlins. The Marlins are looking for outfield help, and they get a guy in Max Kepler who many Twins fans have soured on over the past few seasons. Kepler took off in 2019, but since then has struggled with super low batting averages in part because he pulls the ball on the ground much too frequently. However, with a move to Miami, Kepler has a chance to reconnect with former hitting coach James Rowson and can attempt to rekindle that magic. The Marlins are also reportedly looking for a catcher for the future as we've seen in talks with the Blue Jays, and we provide them that in Ryan Jeffers. This allows Mitch Garver to take a lions share of the catching duties behind the plate, but he can still split time with Ben Rortvedt against right handed pitchers. Drew Strotman, a DFA canidate for the Twins, is a lottery ticket for the Marlins who may be a decent reliever. Lopez, 26 years old next year, has steadily improved under Miami, and is coming off a year where he was worth 2.7 WAR in 102 innings. Lopez has steadily improved in his career, and struck out over 10 batters per 9 in 2021. Lopez features 5 pitches, with his changeup being the most effective. He also works a curveball off of his cutter/sinker/4-seam combination. Lopez may not be an ace, but he is a surefire #2 starter who I am comfortable starting in the playoffs. Lopez is under team control for a few more years, and becomes a free agent in 2025. This move sets us up for both the present and future, which is why I am comfortable trading both Kepler and Jeffers. Following this move we have around 20-25 million to spend on the lineup. Re-Sign SS Andrelton Simmons to a 1 year, 5M deal Listen, I don't love this much more than anyone else. Simmons did absolutely nothing with his bat, had some controversial opinions about things off the field, and was a disappointing signing. However, Simmons still played very good shortstop defense which is exactly what we're paying him to do. Anything that he provides us at the plate is just a plus. I do think that there is more in the bat than we saw last year, but he isn't going to be a great hitter. Also, as much as some fans didn't like Simmons, he seemed to be held in high regard by both players and coaches in the clubhouse. That accounts for something. Sign OF Mark Canha to a 1 year, 10M deal I was all aboard the Michael Brantley train last year, and this year the outfielder that I would like to see the Twins target is former A Mark Canha. Canha isn't a great defender, so there will be a step back in right field with the loss of Kepler, but Canha is very, very underrated at the plate. In the past 3 seasons, Canha has had OBP's of .396, .387, and .358. We all know that the Twins lineup is filled with players who will crush the baseball, but outside of Luis Arraez, who I don't think you can rely as an everyday player, they don't have a prototypical leadoff hitter. Canha fits that bill. He can also swipe bags if you give him a chance. Canha is also capable of playing first base if Sano finds himself injured or just not playing well, and is a fine candidate to rotate through DH. Sign OF Odubel Herrera to a 1 year, 5M deal Herrera, once a top prospect, hasn't quite lived up to the hype in Philadelphia, but he is still a quality outfielder, and is an overqualified 4th outfielder. Herrera isn't the defensive wizard that he was when he first came up, but he is still capable of playing centerfield a few times a week, or weeks at a time if there is an unfortunate injury to Byron Buxton. Herrera has a lifetime OPS+ of 101, which is 1% better than league average, but paired with the defense is a perfect fit for our 4th outfielder. Yes, I would prefer to have a right hander in this role, but the lower tier of the CF market is pretty bleak. Extend OF Byron Buxton to a 5 year, 90M deal + incentives This deal would not kick in until the following year, but a decision needs to be made this off-season, because if Buxton isn't re-signing, he's getting traded. However, we aren't letting the most talented player to ever put on a Twins uniform to walk away. We give him 18 million dollars a year in base salary starting in the 2023 season, and we apply the incentives like this: 50 games played: 500K 75 games played: 750K 100 games played: 2.5M 130 games played: 6M These incentives of course stack on each other, so if Buxton were to find himself playing 130 or more games in a year, the total year salary for Buxton would be 27.75M dollars. That may seem like a lot, but if Buxton is playing 130 games in a season, he's probably finishing top 5 in the MVP voting and is surely worth more money than that. However, if he is injured in a season, Buxton is still taking home a solid chunk of change, but it isn't absolutely breaking the bank on the Twins. If Buxton were to hit these incentives every year, the deal could be worth 138M dollars. The Verdict Pitchers 1. RHP Pablo Lopez 2. LHP Eduardo Rodreguiez 3. RHP Joe Ryan 4. RHP Alex Cobb 5. RHP Bailey Ober Closer - RHP Corey Knebel SU - LHP Taylor Rogers SU - RHP Tyler Duffey MR - RHP Adam Ottavino MR - LHP Caleb Thielbar MR - RHP Jorge Alcala MR - RHP Jovani Moran LR - RHP Michael Wacha The rotation is vastly improved on last year with the additions of Pablo Lopez, Eduardo Rodreguiez, and Alex Cobb. All 3 arms are quality arms who I would feel comfortable starting in the playoffs. This also gives the ability for Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan to go through a little bit of a sophomore slump if it were to happen. Michael Wacha shifts to the bullpen with the addition of Pablo Lopez, but he's the 6th starter when it is inevitably needed. After that, you have various arms like Randy Dobnak, Griffin Jax, Jordan Balazovic, Cole Sands, and a handful of others signed to MiLB deals The bullpen features new additions of right handers Corey Knebel and Adam Ottavino, which supplised more right handed power to a bullpen featuring 3 good lefties. Thielbar, Alcala, Moran, and Wacha are all capable of going multiple innings which is the way baseball is going, and the other 4 provide electric stuff to shut a game down. If the Twins are in it at the hunt, I would expect another reliever to be added at the deadline. Lineup vs RHP 1. RF Mark Canha 2. CF Byron Buxton 3. 2B Jorge Polanco (S) 4. 3B Josh Donaldson 5. LF Alex Kiriloff (L) 6. C Mitch Garver 7. 1B Miguel Sano 8. SS Andrelton Simmons 9. DH Luis Arraez (L) Bench: C Ben Rortvedt (L), IF Jose Miranda, OF/1B Trevor Larnach (L), OF Odubel Herrera (L) The lineup features new addition Mark Canha leading off, with Buxton, Polanco, and Donaldson following them. I believe that this top of the lineup could be as good as any in baseball. The middle of the order features Alex Kiriloff, who we are relying on bouncing back after an inspiring few weeks before needing wrist surgery. Garver and Sano provide thump, but we know they have their warts. It doesn't matter in the bottom portion of the lineup. Simmons is easily the weak spot, but Arraez rounds out the order to potentially set up the table with 2 back to back .370+ OBP batters. Rortvedt is the backup catcher, with Miranda being the backup infielder. Larnach can fill in as a pinch hitter, and Herrera is a late inning pinch running or defensive replacement. LHP 1. RF Mark Canha 2. CF Byron Buxton 3. 3B Josh Donaldson 4. C Mitch Garver 5. 1B Miguel Sano 6. SS Jorge Polanco 7. LF Alex Kiriloff (L) 8. 2B Jose Miranda 9. DH Luis Arraez (L) Bench: C Ben Rortvedt (L), SS Andrelton Simmons, OF/1B Trevor Larnach (L), OF Odubel Herrera (L) There are a few changes in this lineup in regards to who bats where, but the players are basially the same. The only change I made to this lineup was inserting Jose Miranda at 2nd base, sending Andrelton Simmons to the bench, and sliding Jorge Polanco over to shortstop. Donaldson, Garver, and Sano all slide up in the lineup as we shift Jorge Polanco down a few spots as he is not nearly as good against left handed pitchers as he is against righties, while the hitters we slid up thrive against left handers. Miranda is intriguing at the bottom of the lineup, splitting to two lefties to make sure they can't bring in a lefty reliever to face exclusively left handed hitters. Well Twins fans, this has been Mill1634's off-season blueprint. What do you think?

This is a fun idea in theory, but you’re going to run into an overtaxed bullpen at some point when Pineda only gives you three innings and now you’re having to use those guys who you were going to use in the 3 inning games that day to cover for him. I do not think we see the end to the “bulk” pitcher for a long while, especially with the talent many young pitchers have shown.

Adding a bunch of low to below average pitchers and hoping it works because you ask them to pitch < 5 innings (more like 2-3 as suggested, and sometimes 4 if things are going smoothly) isn’t a good strategy over 162 in my opinion. When you throw out 2 or 3 Lewis thorpe types in a game, odds are one of them is going to get lit up. I like to think outside the box as anyone, but I think as far as I’m willing to go with this is the bulk pitcher type we’ve seen many teams use. A good team still needs 3 really good pitchers who you feel good about when they take the mound, and another handful that you feel like you have a shot if you only ask them to throw 4 or 5 innings.

I think your assumptions are fair other than Buxton. I don't think Buxton is straight up going to be making nearly 20M AAV next year, especially if a long term deal isn't signed. His arb number is somewhere around 8M on MLBTR, and the costly part of the extension likely wouldn't kick in until the 2023 season. There is 60M to spend. I think we also see a potential trade of Kepler or Donaldson. If either of those happen, that is roughly another 5-10M to spend, but we won't factor that in the 60M because it's a hypothetical. I think the Twins likely either sign or trade for at least 3 starters on an MLB deal, with at least one making 15M AAV. They'll sign a backend guy who will cost < 5M (Shoemaker type, but hopefully better than him), and a few veterans on MiLB deals I would imagine. Then you're probably looking at 2 or 3 free agent relievers, but I'd be surprised if they spent more than 16M on the bullpen. That gets you to roughly 30ish M on the rotation, and another 15Mish on the bullpen. That doesn't leave them with much room to spend on a SS or impact bat without significantly increasing the payroll, which I don't think happen. I think at this point we're looking at either an impact SP or impact hitter (likely a SS). I'd much rather see them spend on pitching than on a SS, and at that point you're potentially running it back with Andrelton Simmons, which I know a lot of fans don't want to hear, but may be the best option at that point. If the FO is restricted on the budget, which I think it's fair to assume that they are, and they want to add a significant hitter and pitcher, they're going to have to get the pitcher through the trade market. For example, they could go for a guy like Zac Gallen (wouldn't be my choice, that arm scares me), but he fits the bill of an impact starter on a cheap salary. Of course they would have to send some top prospects to make such a move, but it would allow for some additional flexibility to spend on one of the elite shortstops if they choose to do so.

Mill's Off-season Blueprint - Part One - Cleaning House Mill's Off-season Blueprint - Part Two - Adding Arms Feedback encouraged!

In part one of my off-season blueprint, I took a look at the 40 man roster and made some changes. The headliners were waiving players such as Lewis Thorpe and Brent Rooker, while adding on prospects like Royce Lewis and Jose Miranda. These things aren't exciting, but they are necessary steps to go through to create a true off-season blueprint. Now we're on to the fun stuff. Adding on to our hypothetical Twins roster. The current payroll sits at 76.85M dollars after arbitration, which were pulled from MLB Trade Rumors. I have given myself the same budget as last year, 130M dollars. This means we have around 53M to spend either via trade or free agency. Of course, we could trade someone off the major league roster to clear up even more space. But for now, lets add on. Team Needs - Pitching As of now, our current rotation features Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan. These names aren't bad, and both guys performed well in 2021, but they aren't going to be able to be our best pitchers to have a real shot to contend. Having them in the rotation is fine, but we're going to need to add at least 3 starters via trade or free agency, and likely a few more on MiLB deals. The bullpen, while not good, does have a base to work with. Rogers, Thielbar, and Moran are more than enough from the left side, so we won't be targeting any left handed relievers. However, we need to add at least 2 right handed relievers are our current options are Jorge Alcala, Tyler Duffey, and Juan Minaya. Sign LHP Eduardo Rodriguez to a 4 year, 60M deal Eduardo Rodriguez has spent his entire MLB career with the Boston Red Sox, and is coming off of a weird year. He was given a qualifying offer by Boston, so signing him would cost us our third highest draft pick, but that's something I am okay with. Of course, I would much rather sign a front line starter like Kevin Gausman or Max Scherzer, but I simply don't see the Twins being able to swing that in reality, so we're going to keep it realistic here as well. Eduardo gets less than the QO, but gets long term stability with the Twins making 15M AAV. Eduardo has had a FIP under 4 for the past 4 seasons, including a career best 3.32 this past season. He strikes out 10 batter per 9 innings, and provides a lefty arm in the rotation. He does have some injury history, but did pitch 157 innings after opting out of the 2020 season. He features a 5 pitch mix which can keep hitters off-balance, and I'm comfortable starting him in a playoff series. Do I want him to start game one? Probably not. But do I feel better about him starting game one than Joe Ryan or Bailey Ober? Absolutely. Sign RHP Alex Cobb to a 2 year, 18M deal Alex Cobb isn't the most healthy pitcher on the market, but when he pitches he's been as good as anyone. Cobb has never thrown more than 200 innings in his career, and pitched only 93.1 in 2020, but he was worth 1.7 WAR, and had his highest K/9 in his career at 9.5. If he didn't have health concerns, he's a guy who is getting similar money to Eduardo, but he is not. This keeps him as a good option for the Twins because he can provide mid-rotation stability, and again, I am comfortable starting him in a playoff series. Cobb features a 4 pitch mix with his best put-away pitch being his split-finger which ties him closely to former Twins starter Jake Odorizzi. We know the current FO targeted Jake, so targeting Cobb would not be a surprise. Sign RHP Michael Wacha to a 1 year, 3M deal This is the exact deal that Wacha took with the Rays in 2021, and the performance was mixed. Wacha showed the he could still strike batters out at a decent clip, which he has done throughout his career, but still found himself being bit by the gopher ball. Wacha fits the bill of last years Matt Shoemaker addition, who is a potential upside starter for cheap, and at minimum will provide stability to the backend of the rotation. You aren't going to want to start him in a playoff series, but I have no issue giving him the ball once every 5 days during the regular season. Wacha, like Eduardo, features a 5 pitch mix that relies heavily on a changeup that had a whiff rate of 34% in 2021. He also features a seldom used curveball which had a whiff rate of 44%. This is something the Twins could look to get more out of, and more frequently. That's it for the starters, at least on the free agency front. However, I promise you that I'm not happy with this rotation yet. A trade is coming...but not until the final part of this series, part 4. After signing three starters, we currently have 26 million dollars to work with for the bullpen and hitting side of things, and we'll be sure to spend it all. Sign RHP Corey Knebel to a 2 year, 14M deal This hypothetical deal isn't an actual 2 year deal, but instead a 1+1 deal with the second year being a team option with a buyout. Knebel is coming off an injured year, so we can get him for cheaper than if he was healthy, and is another reason to add the team option in case we run into a similar situation in 2022. Knebel is a two pitch pitcher, who throws extremely hard, something that is currently lacking in the Twins bullpen sans Jorge Alcala. Knebel would immediately be the best right hander out of the Twins bullpen, and sets them up much better and much more balanced. Sign Adam Ottavino to a 1 year, 3.5M deal If there was ever a signing to predict, I think this is it. Ottavino is coming off of a very bad September for the Boston Red Sox, but was still a weapon throughout the regular season with a 4.21 ERA, which was inflated by his 8+ ERA in September. Ottavino features a wipeout slider, which as we know, is something that the Twins have targeted around the edges of their staff. His slider put away 25 hitters in 2021, but did surrender 5 home runs. He also works a cutter off the slider, which is his other main pitch. Ottavino likely won't be a late inning option, but I would be super comfortable going to him in the mid innings. This sets up the current staff and rotation to look like this Starting Rotation 1. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez 2. RHP Alex Cobb 3. RHP Joe Ryan 4. RHP Bailey Ober 5. RHP Michael Wacha As I said earlier, the rotation isn't complete yet as there is one more move that's coming, but it won't be until the final part of this series where I put the finishing touches on things with some trades. However, the current state of the rotation is much improved to what we saw last year. Eduardo may not be a household name, but he's a very good arm. Cobb has an injury history, but is coming off of a successful year. Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober are both in house names that every Twins fan knows at this point. Wacha rounds out the rotation with a veteran arm. Bullpen Closer - RHP Corey Knebel Set-up - LHP Taylor Rogers Set-up - RHP Tyler Duffey MR - RHP Adam Ottavino MR - LHP Caleb Thielbar MR - LHP Jovani Moran MR - RHP Jorge Alcala LR - RHP Juan Minaya The bullpen features some familiar names, but we added a real back end weapon this year in free agency with Corey Knebel. I don't actually believe in having a true closer, but for the purposes of acting as the GM, we have listed Knebel there. You can mix and match Knebel, Rogers, Duffey, and Ottavino however you want in the late innings and I would feel good about it. Thielbar and Moran are both really good lefties, and Jorge Alcala is a wildcard. Minaya takes the first stab at the front end of the bullpen, but he will be cycled through like we've seen every year. And with that, the pitching portion of free agency is done. We have roughly 15 million dollars left on the table, but there may be more room to add with some trades off of the roster. Stay tuned, and let me know your thoughts below!

The 2021 baseball season has come and gone, and thankfully the Dodgers, Yankees, Astros, or White Sox did not win the world series. Eddie Rosario lit the baseball world on fire, the Cardinals had 5 players win a gold glove, and the Twins yet again did not win a playoff series. However, myself, Mill1634, is going to change that with this off-season blueprint. Last season, my off-season blueprint was much better than the actual Twins off-season simply by one player -- Robbie Ray, who I brought in on a hypothetical 1 year, 6 million dollar deal. In reality, Ray re-signed with the Jays for 8 million dollars, and is potentially the AL Cy Young winner. We'll look to see if I can recreate that magic this year. 40 Man Removals The Twins have already taken care of the majority of the legwork for me, as there was a batch of removals at the start of the off-season. SP Michael Pineada, RP Alex Colome (option declined) and SS Andrelton Simmons had their contracts expire which made them free agents which obviously removes them from the 40 man roster. OF Kyle Garlick, OF Rob Refsnyder, and P John Gant were waived from the 40 man, went unclaimed, and elected free agency. They are no longer our worry, or taking up space on the 40 man. However, they claimed P Jharel Cotton off waivers from the Texas Rangers, so there is a spot taken again. They also activated P Lewis Thorpe, P Cody Stashak, P Kenta Maeda, OF Alex Kiriloff, P Devin Smeltzer, P Taylor Rogers, and P Randy Dobnak. As of writing this piece, the Twins have 37 names on the 40 man roster. This number needs to get a lot smaller, and that's exactly what we're going to do. Pitchers - Jharel Cotton - Danny Coulombe - Ralph Garza Jr. - Devin Smeltzer - Lewis Thorpe I do not think any of these names are particularly surprising, and there are two more names that are on the fence, for me at least. Those two names are Cody Stashak and Juan Minaya, but they'll stay for now, but if we find ourselves making a big trade, or with leftover money late in the spring, we'll have no problem cutting bait. Cotton was just claimed, but he likely isn't a stud reliever, and I'll risk passing him through waivers once again. Coulombe was okay as a lefty reliever, but we have 3 stud lefties -- Taylor Rogers, Caleb Thielbar, and Jovani Moran. We can sign 5 more Danny Coulombe's to MiLB deals following the R5 draft if we're really missing him. Garza, a mid-year waiver claim, pitched okay out of the bullpen, but only struck out 7 per 9 innings. We saw how pitch to contact relievers can bite you, didn't we Alex? Smeltzer and Thorpe are both often injured, and not very good. They will be sandwhiched by off-season signings, and the next wave of Twins pitching prospects. Hitters - Willians Astudillo - Jake Cave - Brent Rooker Look, I love La Tortuga as much as anyone does, but he simply isn't a very good baseball player. The Twins certainly don't trust him at catcher anymore, and he doesn't have a natural position in the field. His bat, while exciting and maybe even much watch, are not good at-bats most of the time. Jake Cave is as frustrating of a player as I can remember, and I don't think I need to say anything more. Rooker is probably a controversial waive, and I would be somewhat surprised if the actual Twins front office decides to make this move, but the former 1st rounder had a rough 60 game stretch, and he doesn't have a spot on the field. You could rotate him through the DH position, but there are other Twins players I'd much rather give those at-bats to. Of course I would try to trade him first, but I am not going through the work to find a random A- reliever that I really love! Much like the pitching side of things, there is one other player who I was on the fence about, but for now we'll keep him. That player is Nick Gordon, but he may not be here through the (hypothetical) winter. The 40 man roster now sits at 28 players. Arbitration - P Caleb Thielbar - 1.2M (Tender) - OF Byron Buxton - 7.3M (Tender, work on a long-term extension) - P Tyler Duffey - 3.7M (Tender) - P Juan Minaya - 1.1M (Tender) - P Taylor Rogers - 6.7M (Tender) - C Mitch Garver - 3.1M (Tender) - IF Luis Arraez - 2M (Tender) That is that. We tender every single player who is eligible that is still on my 40 man. Of course, you may see the Twins non-tender a player like Jake Cave or Willians Astudillo, but we already took care of that by waving them from the 40-man roster. At the end of the day, it's the same difference. Additions Here in Mill1634's world, we try to avoid Akil Baddoo situations, and I'll attempt to take care of that again right now. There are a handful of players who need to be added to the 40 man roster, or you risk losing them to the rule 5 draft. - SS Royce Lewis - P Josh Winder - IF Jose Miranda - P Cole Sands - P Blayne Enlow These 5 names bring us to 33 names on the 40 man roster, which gives us room for 7 additions through trade or free agency, which should be enough, but as I previously mentioned, there are still some names that can be removed from the 40 man if needed. Royce Lewis is a no brianer protection, as are Josh Winder and Jose Miranda. Cole Sands is not a top pitching prospect, but he just posted fantastic numbers in the minors, and we'll protect him for now. Blayne Enlow is injured, so a team could nab him and place him on the injured list when eligible next year, but we can do that ourselves, and there is no reason to lose him for nothing. Unprotected - IF Yunior Severino - P Chris Vallimont - P Jordan Gore - OF Mark Contreras None of these names are top prospects, but they've been mentioned plenty of times on Twins Daily. Severino is coming off an okay year, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see a claim him in the R5 draft, but I'm not overly worried about that possibility. Vallimont, acquired in the Sergio Romo trade a few years ago, has fantastic stuff but doesn't have the control needed to make a difference right now. If someone wants to give him a shot in a major league bullpen, fine. I'd expect him to be returned if his BB/9 is above 6 again. Gore, a former hitting prospect, is intriguing but is 27 years old and only has 70 innings pitched in the minors. I don't think too many teams will be interested. Contreras, an outfielder, is in a similar situation to Gore. He is a great outfielder, and finally broke out at the plate, but is already 27 years old. Again, I'm not too worried about losing him. And with that, part 1 of my off-season blueprint has come to an end. In the next few days, part 2 will come to fruition where we make some fun additions to the squad with the hope of competing in 2022.

Pretty sad that EROD got the QO, as I thought he was a fit here, but I don’t think I’d be willing to give up the draft pick for him unless you’re getting him for a significant chunk under market value.

I don’t really think the bench coach matters that much, but anytime you can hire a former manager that was a part of a competitive team is a great move. Glad to have Jayce on board. Good for both parties. If the Twins rebound, he will surely get another managerial job.

Ober clearly the winner here, with the limited sample of the healthy Kiriloff coming in a distant second.